Russia Continues Media Campaign against US in Syria

A Russian armored vehicle on the Aleppo-Lattakia road on May 12, 2020 (AFP)
A Russian armored vehicle on the Aleppo-Lattakia road on May 12, 2020 (AFP)
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Russia Continues Media Campaign against US in Syria

A Russian armored vehicle on the Aleppo-Lattakia road on May 12, 2020 (AFP)
A Russian armored vehicle on the Aleppo-Lattakia road on May 12, 2020 (AFP)

Moscow is pushing forward with its political and media campaign against US actions in Syria. This push coincided with escalating tensions between Russia and the West in Ukraine.

Lieutenant-General Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov, Deputy Head of the Operations Directorate of the Russian General Staff, denounced the US unilateral coercive economic measures imposed on Syria, adding that these sanctions deteriorated standards of living in the country.

He told TASS that the US sanctions imposed on Syria through the Caesar Act had intimidated many companies, including Russian companies.

The Russian General indicated that the companies refuse even to enter profitable projects in Syria for fear of US sanctions.

Moreover, Russia revealed information about the intention of US intelligence to exploit sleeper terrorist cells in Syria to carry out attacks against the Syrian Army, Russia, and Iran.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleg Syromolotov said in a statement that the Russian forces in Syria has information about US intelligence plans to mobilize sleeping extremists in Syria to carry out attacks against the Syrian Army and the Russian and Iranian military personnel.

He added that the Russian forces in Syria are taking appropriate measures to deal with any possible incidents of this kind.

The Russian Defense Ministry had warned in a statement that “leaders of armed groups in Syria are planning to launch attacks in four provinces, namely, Homs, Damascus, Daraa and As-Suwayda.”

Oleg Zhuravlev, deputy chief of the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Opposing Parties in Syria, said that available intelligence shows that leaders of covert gangs are planning vandalism operations against civilian and public institutions in the four provinces.

In a relevant context, Zhuravlev stressed that the activities of the US occupation forces in Syria continue to negatively affect the situation in the country, as security conditions remain critical in areas where armed militias which they support are deployed.

“The last three days have witnessed ten terrorist attacks and subversive operations in those areas, killing 18 people and wounding 25 others,” Zhuravlev said.



Israeli Strike in Gaza Kills Workers with World Central Kitchen Charity

Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle on Salah al-Din Road following Israeli military strikes, east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 30 November 2024. (EPA)
Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle on Salah al-Din Road following Israeli military strikes, east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 30 November 2024. (EPA)
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Israeli Strike in Gaza Kills Workers with World Central Kitchen Charity

Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle on Salah al-Din Road following Israeli military strikes, east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 30 November 2024. (EPA)
Palestinians inspect a destroyed vehicle on Salah al-Din Road following Israeli military strikes, east of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, 30 November 2024. (EPA)

An Israeli airstrike on a car in the Gaza Strip on Saturday killed five people including employees of World Central Kitchen, and the charity said it was “urgently seeking more details” after Israel's military said it targeted a WCK worker who had been part of the Hamas attack that sparked the war.

WCK in an email said it was “heartbroken” by the airstrike and that it had no knowledge anyone in the car had alleged ties to the Oct. 7, 2023 attack, saying it was “working with incomplete information.” It said it was pausing operations in Gaza.

The charity's aid delivery efforts in Gaza were temporarily suspended earlier this year after an Israeli strike killed seven of its workers, most of them foreigners.

The Israeli military in a statement said the alleged Oct. 7 attacker had worked with WCK and it asked “senior officials from the international community and the WCK administration to clarify" how that had come about.

The violence in Gaza raged even as a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to be holding, despite sporadic episodes that have tested its fragility. Israel on Saturday struck what it said were Hezbollah weapons smuggling sites along Syria's border with Lebanon.

The strike on the vehicle was the latest in what aid agencies have described as the dangerous work of delivering aid in Gaza, where the war has sparked a humanitarian crisis that has displaced much of the territory's 2.3 million population and triggered widespread hunger.

World Central Kitchen provides meals to people in need following natural disasters or to those enduring conflict. Its teams have often served as a lifeline for people in Gaza who have struggled to feed themselves.

Palestinian health official Muneer Alboursh confirmed the strike, and an aid worker in Gaza confirmed that three killed were workers with the WCK. The aid worker spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak with the media.

At Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, a woman held up an employee badge bearing the WCK logo, the word “contractor” and the name of a man said to have been killed in the strike. Belongings — burned phones, a watch and stickers with the WCK logo — lay splayed on the hospital floor.

Nazmi Ahmed said his nephew worked for WCK for the past year. He said he was driving to the charity's kitchens and warehouses.

“Today, he went out as usual to work ... and was targeted without prior warning and without any reason,” Ahmed said.

In April, a strike on a WCK aid convoy killed seven workers — three British citizens, Polish and Australian nationals, a Canadian-American dual national and a Palestinian. The Israeli military called the strike a mistake.

That strike prompted an international outcry and the brief suspension of aid to Gaza by several aid groups, including WCK. Another Palestinian WCK worker was killed in August by shrapnel from an Israeli airstrike, the group said.

Another Israeli airstrike Saturday hit a car near a food distribution point in Khan Younis, killing 13 people including children gathering to receive aid. Nasser hospital in Khan Younis received the bodies.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’ October 2023 attack that killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took some 250 hostage. Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, according to local health officials, who do not distinguish between civilians and combatants in their count but say more than half the dead were women and children.